Following Their Footsteps
by TerraScarlett
Summary: The main characters have all grown up, but their duelling spirit still runs hot in their veins and is passed down to their children. Even Seto Kaiba has a daughter, not that he knows. Ivy Flint has lived her life knowing of her father, but not being allowed to have or do anything to do with him, including duelling. But as of her seventeenth birthday, that will all change...
1. Chapter 1

"Ivy!" the harsh crow-like voice of my grandmother startled me from my thoughts.

I flinched and looked up at her, clicking my neck in the process. "Yes?"

"You're seventeen today, you need to start thinking of where you will go in life. You need goals."

I rolled my eyes. This talk _again_. "I told you my plan, I will study technology, mainly that used in gaming and I will eventually become a gaming technology designer." And with that I prepared for what I knew she'd say next.

"I meant something useful in life. You need something steady with a decent pay." She of course knew what she wanted me to do. And she meant for any pay I earned to go towards the family.

"My family can get their own money. They aren't _that_ helpless." I smirked.

It was true. I was partly speaking of the Kaiba family on my father's side. Father was head of a duelling technology corporation. He was harsh and ruthless, cold and heartless. Ever the businessman. The public knows him as Seto Kaiba. I know him as the father I never knew.

He hated it when he fell in love, because he didn't want to show his weaker sides to anyone, in case they then ruined him and used who he loved against him. So he left my mother, unbeknownst to him that she was pregnant with his daughter: me.

I grew up knowing who my father was, because we looked very alike, from hair and eyes to skin-colour. Thankfully no one had picked up on that. He had no idea I even existed, and for that I didn't hate him at all. I understood why he did what he did. And I wanted to meet him eventually, but when I was successful. When I was someone he could be proud of.

My mother, Helen Flint was from a long line of business secretaries and that kind of dull thing, they earned decent pay but that was the only good point about their jobs. Needless to say, I had annoyed several by admitting that I didn't want to become a mere secretary. I had the ambition to rule a corporation, much like the person I wasn't allowed to mention: my father.

"I don't see why you don't want to be a secretary." Grandmother sighed.

Making myself stay calm, I decided on what to say back. "I am smart, more-so than most. I have a gift with technology and a bucket-load of ambition. I don't want to be the slave or secretary; I want to be the master. I want to be something my father can be proud of." I felt like goading her today, I couldn't resist saying the 'f' word.

She tensed and went pale, her already thin lips nearly disappearing into a hard line. I knew I already reminded my family of Seto Kaiba with my looks inherited from him, but I couldn't resist reminding them more.

"Sorry, grandmother; can't help being a daddy's girl." I smirked and picked up the news-tablet. They were what we read the daily news on, electronically of course. The only newspapers in the world nowadays were in museums apparently.

I scanned the "pages" and my eyes widened as I spotted a headline. '_Kaiba Starting New Tournament_'.

Basically in the article it said that my father's corporation were going to bring duelling back with an all new tournament. He had been a well-known duellist in his younger years, so it wasn't surprising he'd be able to set a tournament up. And apparently there was a secret which I wanted to know.

I wanted to enter, though I didn't have an entry card and to get an entry card I would need a duelling disk and a deck… But then there was a knock on the door.

I switched the news-tablet off and checked who was at the door via the camera system. When I saw who it was I grinned and ran to the door to answer it immediately.

"Uncle Mokuba!" I cheered as I was embraced by my short uncle. He was my father's brother and knew of my existence, but understood to keep it quiet from my father than I existed.

"Happy birthday, Ivy! You're growing up so fast." He grinned, our identical blue eyes, which my father also had, meeting. The main difference between his older brother, my father, and him were that he was short, had long, black hair while father's was brown, and was more open and friendly. But he and his brother adored each other despite their differences.

"I'm only seventeen." I shook my head. "But why are you here today?" He shook his head, meaning 'not here'. I nodded. "Come see my room, uncle."

I led him through the house to my room, where the camera recognized me and opened the door, closing it behind us.

He sighed, seeming more at-ease. "I don't want to be banned from seeing you, so this has to be our little secret. I got you a present since when I heard about it I knew you'd want it but your mother and her family wouldn't buy it for you."

He opened an inner-pocket in his jacket and pulled out a little box. I opened it to see a necklace with a card on it. "I-is this?"

He nodded with a grin. I hugged him tightly. "I recommend you keep it hidden, I'll meet up with you soon and take you through the preparations. I know Samuel's secret which the public will know soon."

"Can't you tell me it?" I begged.

He shook his head sadly. "Sorry, I have to be fair. But I'll be keeping an eye on you, as I usually do."

I smiled and hugged him again, slipping the 'necklace' around my neck and hiding it beneath my shirt before letting him out. The rest of my birthday was pretty quiet, just being made to act somewhat nice to relatives I disliked.

Family gatherings were always dull. So I spiced them up. The only one I could really put up with, apart from uncle Mokuba, was my mother. While she did forgive my father for what he did, she would never forget her broken heart. But sadly, these days, she wasn't the most assertive person. So she didn't really do anything to stop her controlling relatives from severing ties between her and my father.

While we were very different people, she loved me in her own way. And she was my mother so I could never hate her. Her love for me was kind of bittersweet because of how like my father I was, yet she loved me despite the pain of memory.

**AN:** Hello dear reader, this is the beginning of my new fanfic. I will do my best to update it regularly, but with a hectic life I make no promises. I hope you enjoy reading this, and feedback is always welcome! :)


	2. Chapter 2

The day after my birthday I went back to school. The week passed fairly normally, and so many people were talking about the upcoming tournament.

But then, on Wednesday, a staff member came into my maths class and asked for me to collect my things and go to the principal's office. Any student with half a brain knows that it is rarely good to have to get your things and go to the principal's office, and I was dreading why I was being called up today.

When I got into the office, the principal, Mr Wordsworth, was at his desk, one hand against his forehead. "Sit down please, Ivy." His voice was pleasant as always, he was a good principal, one who cared for the students and their education.

"What is it, sir?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"It's your mother. She was killed in a car crash." He struggled with the words at first, and then they spilled out, like water struggling over a barrier before the pressure got too great and the water crashed through it.

The world seemed to spin and a bolt raced through my heart. _Mother…dead…it can't be._ "That isn't an amusing joke." My voice was cold.

He nodded. "That's why it isn't. A car suddenly shot out in front of her, causing her to swerve and crash into a lamp post. Her neck was snapped on impact. A spark also hit the fuel tank, she was burnt but thankfully after death."

I know I should have been in tears then, wailing out my angst at losing my mother, but in truth I just felt hollow, empty. I'm not sure how long I just sat there in silence. But I was roused from my daze by knocking on the door.

"Come in." Mr Wordsworth said softly. I was surprised to see Uncle Mokuba come in. "Who are you?"

"I am Mokuba Kaiba, Ivy's uncle. I trust you know a bit of her heritage. I heard the news and came instantly; I will be taking care of her." He said in a voice that left no room for discussion before turning to me. "Come on, Ivy. I doubt you'll be able to do much here so you'll come with me. I need to help you fend off the carrion-bird relatives of Helen's."

I stood and followed Mokuba out, when we got out of the office; he swept me up in a hug. "What happens now, uncle? Where do I live?" I asked sadly.

We started walking outside while he spoke. "Well one option is that you live with someone on your mother's side." He chuckled at the face I pulled. "Another option is that we tell your father you are his daughter which I doubt you want to do. So the best option left is that you live with me. Or at least in my house, I don't actually spend much time there, but I can promise you I will look after you."

"I'd love that!" I grinned.

He ruffled my hair. "Thought so, junior. So I'll take you to your old home now so you can get anything you need and then bring you home."

I smiled; he always was able to lift my spirits. His limousine was waiting outside so we got in and let the chauffer take us to my old house. When we got to the house, we went inside to find a gathering of my relatives, from aunts and uncles to my grandparents.

"What are you doing in my mother's home?" I asked; my voice low and cold.

"I could ask Mokuba the same!" My grandmother spat.

"He's accompanying me because he is going to be my guardian from now on. We're seeing his lawyer this afternoon. Now as the heir to everything of my mother's, answer my question before I kick you out." I glared at all of them, money-grubbing sods.

"We were just making plans for where your mother's assets should go—"

I cut her off. "Don't bother, her lawyer contacted my uncle and passed the information to me that everything of hers goes to me. I am going to sell what I don't keep, and save up money for my education. Get out of here, _now_! You will get an invitation to the funeral."

They slowly left under my steely gaze. When the last person was out I ordered the door to shut before hurrying to my room to pack what I wanted and needed into a duffel-bag. Before we left, I made sure the house was securely locked. The limo-ride through the city was long due to the busy roads.

"Would you like something to drink, Ivy? I have your favourite: vanilla coke." Mokuba smiled.

I shook my head, I wasn't thirsty. When the limo stopped I couldn't help but gawk at the modest splendour of my uncle's house. He led me through it to a large bedroom which looked un-lived in.

"I'm afraid I have business to attend to and I hate to leave you, but it shouldn't take long. I'll be back by the time you've unpacked if that's what you choose to do." He smiled and hugged me.

I nodded and got started unpacking, putting my few items of clothing into a huge wardrobe which was visibly too big for my scant belongings. My laptop, bought with my own money, went on what looked like a study desk. I added my books to those that were already in the bookshelf, noticing they were all my favourite genres.

I felt bad that I wasn't really mourning my mother, but to be honest I was still in shock. And I had no idea what to do, so I just went on doing what I could.

Uncle Mokuba was right in his promise to be back when I finished unpacking. I'd just folded and put away the bag when he came in. We sat down and organized mother's funeral. We sadly wouldn't have her body, since a spark from the crash had hit the petrol and her body had been burnt, but luckily for her she was already dead.

The funeral would happen the next day at a good graveyard Mokuba knew of. We even invited my mother's family, despite their dislike of us. But that was their problem, not ours. When I finally got to sleep in my new king sized bed, it was amazing. Never before had I slept in such comfort with sheets smelling of a vanilla scented soap.


End file.
